AP rescues Lancashire

posted by John Winn

I made an early start yesterday on a cheerless morning in the Lower Ure Valley, making the 90 mile journey to The County Ground to see Derbyshire take on Lancashire in what was for both teams their first championship action of the season. For me this is match 149 out of the 153 needed to see every county play every other county once and the only one available to me this season. So smooth was my journey that I arrived 15 minutes before the gates were due to open but I found a gateman prepared to take my £23 (£18 admission plus £5 car parking) and stifling a cry of ouch I parked up.

A north easterly breeze and cloud cover made me seek refuge in the Cricket Derbyshire Tea Bar, the 'reconfiguration' of which was undoubtedly the main focus of the Derbyshire faithful's grumbles as they arrived, most of them for the first time this season. And boy can they grumble. 'Reconfiguration' is a euphemistic way of describing the tea bar's reduction in size by about 50%, the menu has suffered a similar pruning so that for example those wanting the 'full breakfast' can only do so by accessing the members' area, which ruled me out. The tea bar's loss has been the book shop's gain as this has been moved from its previous small hut to occupy the other half of the old tea bar. At 10:00 on a cold Sunday morning however there was more demand for sausages than Swanton.

Lancashire were, in the words of the public address, 'invited to bat', what would happen if they had refused remains a mystery, and the B team, Messrs Bodenham and Benson led the players out through a guard of honour and a whisker before 11:00, Footitt, 82 championship wickets last season, bowled to Horton and we were underway. Under Winn's rules one ball allows me to tick off a match so it was 149 down and 4 to go before the clock had struck eleven.

 

A gloomy day at Derby

 

The County Ground has always featured prominently in the competition to be judged  England's coldest cricket ground and yesterday it threw down an early marker for 2015. I decided that I should sit with my back to the north easterly wind which put me next to disgruntled of Chesterfield who throughout the day kept up a litany of complaints about the county's administrators. That  Footitt and Palladino dismissed  both Lancashire's openers in the first twenty overs did little to stem the bellyaching. The two early wickets brought together the two South Africans, Petersen and Prince and to make them feel more at home the lights were switched on. Lancashire's top order would look a little thin without these two very experienced players and they had added 49 before Prince was out, swiftly followed by Croft, Palladino's second victim.

The lunch interval provided me with an opportunity to check out the book shop and I picked up a copy of a biography of Arthur Milton  at a very reasonable price. There are some gems amongst the shop's stock, many priced at just £1 but even in its enlarged premises these are rather hidden away. Meanwhile  the queue at the tea bar was stretching out of the door.

The afternoon belonged to Petersen who found an ally in skipper Smith and they added 135 for the fifth wicket before Smith was bowled by Hughes. The sun had made a few brief appearances during the afternoon but not for long enough to offset the cold wind and by tea time I felt thoroughly chilled and left for home where I arrived shortly before six, pleased that I had been able to see this match so early in the season. The two teams meet again on May 24th at Southport, a ground I have not previously visited and I have it in mind to make the trip over to the west coast. Please let it be warmer.

 

Palladino: three wickets on opening day.